Stay With Me
by LoubaTotoaygo
Summary: Brainy has left the Legion, a new arch nemesis has arisen and Violet's been taken hostage. Can the Legion convince Brainy to help them find her. Swear it's better than it sounds. BrainyVi
1. Chapter 1

Right so my first chapter based fic. Umm I know it's short but I'm not really used to writing mahoosively long blocks of writing. Hopefully as I get more into the fic the chapters will get longer as more stuff happens.

Disclaimer: I don't own Legion of Superheroes (wish I did, then we might at least get a 3rd bloody season!)

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I packed the few remaining items left into the second of the duffel bags. Even as a human I was meticulously neat. Order in the chaos. I shuddered, those words reminding me of what had just passed. Soft footfalls in the corridor reached my ears and a moment later the hissing of the pneumatic doors. I looked up to see Shrinking Violet before me. Her arms crossed as she rested her weight to one side, looking at me accusingly.

'So you were gonna leave without saying goodbye huh?' inwardly I cringed, her voice was steady but I could feel the hurt behind it. Ever since my discovery of her intelligence and pluckiness, we had become close friends. But after everything that happened I didn't want to face the looks of the friends I had betrayed, especially not her. I could still feel the force I used to push he skull into the wall, I'm sure it was luck that kept her alive from that blow.

'I didn't think anyone would miss me, not after...' I trailed off, looking down at the floor.

'You know, for a guy with twelfth level intelligence you're pretty stupid.' I looked up and she smirked at me. 'Brainy, no one blames you for what happens and even if they do, I don't.' She wondered over to the window, 'So don't I matter?' she said the last sentence so quietly I barely heard her.

I followed her to the window and looked down at Kell-El's swearing in ceremony. 'Of course you matter,' I replied after a pause.

'Then why didn't you tell me you were leaving.' Her gaze shifted onto me, I could feel the weight of it on my shoulders and I didn't know how to answer. Why wasn't I going to say goodbye to her? The others, it was obvious but her...

'I guess,' I muttered quietly, I had her full attention; 'I guess it was because...I was afraid you'd try and stop me.' I looked at her. She seemed distracted.

'But that's what friends do,' she said, more to herself than to me, 'But Brainy...' she paused before carrying on, 'I don't want you to go.' She said it as a child might. Pleading with her eyes and the tone of her voice. I could see the tears welling up. Oh God.

'Vi, please don't cry.' I begged, she sniffed and wiped her eyes.

'I'm not,' she pouted, 'I've just got something in my eye,' I smiled, same old Vi, refused to let anything phase her for fear of seeming weak. She already got enough stick from people who thought her ability was useless. In all truth, I used to be one of them but she proved me wrong. We looked down at the ceremony once more. 'Brainy,' I looked at her but her remained fixed on the stage below us, 'I need...I-I mean we...the Legion needs you.' She blushed, though I'm not sure why.

'No it doesn't, I made sure everything is in working order and besides, if anything goes wrong they have you.'

'Me?' She looked confused.

'Vi, while you're not as smart as me,' I smirked as she gently punched me on the arm, 'Ego much?' she giggled, 'you still have a tenth level intelligence which means that anything they need they can go to you for.' I carried on. Her smile died on her lips.

'But I don't want them to come to me,' she said somewhat petulantly, 'I want them to go to you.'

'But Vi you can do it, I know you can.'

'It's not about that, if they go to you then that means that you'll still be here...with me.' At this she looked away leaving me shocked. Did I really mean that much to her? After everything that happen it was unlikely. Logically speaking, she was a human which meant she was probably comfortable with having me around. Humans did not like change in their lives thus she was just trying to prevent it. It made perfect sense. I hardened my resolve.

'I'm sorry Vi, I have to go.' My voice was colder than I meant it to be and the tears that had been threatening to spill, poured forth. But they fell silently. Vi was not even looking at me and the tears kept falling.

'But I don't want you to go,' she whispered again in broken tones which wretched my heart in two. I reached out to her and pulled her into my arms. Something as a robot I would never have thought to do but as a human I did on impulse and it felt good. I felt her stiffen and then return my embrace to me. 'Please? Please Brainy?' in that moment I felt so wanted and needed. My closest friend clinging to me, her tears soaking through my shirt. I would have given anything to make her pain go away. But no. I gently but firmly pushed her away.

'I'm sorry.' Before I lost my resolve I turned on my heel grabbed my bags and left walking as fast as I could. The sound of her sobs reached me but I kept on trying to block it, telling myself it was the right thing to do. That was how I left the Legion. Defiant, determined and close to tears.

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Superman walked down the corridor with a heavy heart. Not only had Kell-El left back to the 41st century but Brainiac 5 had left as well. He had told him before he left and it was his duty to tell the others. As he walked past the lab, his super hearing picked up stifled sobs. He paused and knocked on the door. 'Hello?' a panicked shuffling was heard as he opened the door just in time to see Violet shrinking herself and escaping through the ventilation shaft. 'Violet!' he called but she was already gone. He sighed, making a mental note to talk to her later, before carrying on his way to the common room only to find it in celebration. It seemed Duo Damsel was no more as White had returned from the future. It wasn't that he particularly wanted to spoil the fun but it was never good to avoid bad news and he didn't want to carry the burden for longer than he had to. He took a deep breath.

'Guys,' no one reacted, 'Guys!' louder, yet only a few heads turned. Finally, 'GUYS!' he yelled and all talking ceased, 'I have something to tell you.'

'What's up Superman?' questioned Lightning Lad.

'Brainy's gone.'

'Gone? Gone where?' asked Cham not getting the point.

'Gone as in he's left the Legion.' As he had expected there was a mixed reaction to this. Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, Timberwolf, Phantom Girl, Cham and Bouncing Boy all seemed shocked and worried but too his disgust, most of the other Legionnaires looked relieved.

'But why?' asked Bouncing Boy. Before Superman could answer Cosmic Boy chipped in.

'Because he knew what he had done was unforgivable and we can't trust him.'

'How can you say that!' fumed Saturn Girl, 'After everything he's done for us.'

'Well he's right.' Answered Sun Boy, 'How do we know he won't go crazy on us again?'

'**I** know.' Growled Superman effectively ending the conversation before marching out to find Shrinking Violet. She seemed to be taking Brainy's leaving the hardest. He couldn't help but feel that there was something between those two. She would have a lot of responsibilities now as, being Brainy's unofficial former assistant; she would assume his place as smartest in the Legion. He reached he quarters and knocked on the door. 'Vi? Violet?' nothing, 'Vi, open the door. I know you're in there, I can hear you breathing.' There was a pause before the door slid open. He looked down at her and saw that her eyes were puffy and red. 'Vi, are you ok?'

'Don't call me that.' She whispered.

'Call you what?' he was confused, she sounded so cold and unlike herself.

'Vi. My name is Violet.'

'But Vi-'

'_My name_,' she emphasised, '_is Violet_.' she looked up at him, visibly shaking with the effort to remain composed.

'Ok Violet.' He assented sadly.

'I'm going to the lab now, I have work to do.' He voice remained icy as she walked past him. He stared after her. _Brainy had better come back soon_ he thought.

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Ok so that was the first chapter. If you think it could be improved (which I'm sure it can) then feel free to give me tips as I'm still pretty new at this. Oh and I want to say thanks to LadyGuardianofKeondes and UltraFox for reviewing my last fic, really meant alot. I know Vi is a bit OOC in this but i wanted it to imply that they'd had other 'moments' besides the ones we've seen on tv.


	2. Chapter 2

A few weeks had passed since Brainy's departure. Everything seemed to be running smoothly. With Imperiex gone there had been, as yet, a void in the true evil villain of the galaxy with the Fatal Five locked away. There had been a few minor disturbances but nothing a small group of Legionnaires couldn't handle. But things weren't quite the same. Everyone, even Cosmic Boy, had noticed the abrupt change in Shrinking Violet. Her once cheery, outgoing attitude had been replaced by a cold, calculating venire and she spent most of her time in the lab only leaving it for food or to return to her quarters late at night. People had tried to talk to her but she just waved them off saying 'she was busy' and 'how would they like to try and fill Brainy's shoes?' no one could argue with that so they had no choice but to leave her be.

Violet was in her lab when the alarm went. She wouldn't have paid any attention to it had it not have been followed by Superman's voice calling all Legionnaires to the control room. She sighed, this couldn't be good. She walked in, not having rushed, just as Superman had managed to get everyone's attention.

'Ok, everyone here?' his eyes swept the room mentally checking everyone off while noting with slight surprise that Violet had joined them. 'Good, right, we have a new threat. Ten minutes ago we got a distress call from the planet Jahesh that it was under attack from, and I quote, 'an army of spiderlike creatures lead by an archer woman who seems to be able to block any attack made while also paralyzing people with her arrows.' The message was cut off after this, but it's clear we have to get there as fast as we can.'

'But do we know what she wants? She can't just be attacking for no reason.' Timberwolf interjected.

'As of yet we don't know her motives.' Answered Cosmic Boy shiftily, he hated not appearing to know everything.

'She's after the Jahala crystal.' Muttered Violet. All attention was turned to her and she hated it.

'Excuse me?'

She sighed, 'the Jahala crystal?' all faces were blank. She sighed again, 'Jahesh is home to a rare type of crystal with amazing amplifying powers.'

'And that would be significant because..?'

'Because if you placed it in the way of say, a laser, then it would instantly become ten times more powerful or intense depending on where you placed it.' There was a pause, 'you know we should get going.' That got people moving.

She could hear Cosmic Boy yelling orders but she wasn't really listening, as she got on the ship she heard Cham mutter to Bouncing Boy, 'You know it's scary how much she sounded like Brainy just then.' She only just stopped the tears from welling up in her eyes. Brainy. She missed him so much, she didn't realise how hard his job was. _But it couldn't have been this hard_, she thought,_ he had me_. She spent the rest of the trip trying to block him from her mind so she could concentrate on the mission. Just as well, 

when they arrived it was evident the damage the Arachnids (as they had now been named) had been doing.

'Violet,' snapped Cosmic Boy, 'where is the crystal?' She glared at him.

'The **crystals **are being mined not far from the capital city of Bekhuum,' she looked over the devastation below them and caught sight of their new enemy. They were huge. At least eight feet tall, half hairy black spider, half deformed humanoid. All were covered in the same red and black armour from the waist bearing the insignia of a bow and arrow surrounded by flames on the chest. They carried plasma guns and well as having all the natural weapons a spider could offer: strong, sticky silk threads creating almost unbreakable webs, venomous fangs able to paralyse and kill as well as a few other hidden tricks. All this put Violet in mind of one thing – she hated spiders. Ever since she was a child she harboured a fear of them but these monsters came straight from her nightmares. The only person who knew was Brainy, effectively meaning she was going to have to deal with this alone. _It's ok_, she told herself, _they are no different from any other bad guy._ She repeated it to herself over and over again until they landed.

The idea was to land a few miles away and fly to the centre of the problem but the Arachnids were once step ahead and appeared almost as soon as they had landed. The Legion immediately went into action. Superman and Lightning Lad launched themselves at the bulk of the ever increasing mass of Arachnids while the rest of the Legion defended their ship. Violet felt overwhelmed. She could hear the blood pounding in her ears. She froze as an Arachnid came towards her, hissing as it aimed its plasma gun at her. She couldn't move as it pulled the trigger, only to be pushed out of the way by Phantom Girl though which the shot passed.

'Violet! Wake up!' she yelled as she took the Arachnid out. It was all too much for her so she did the only thing she could. As the world became larger she felt ashamed. She couldn't help her friends at all. She was useless. _No,_ she thought, _I will help. I'll find the source of the problem and do some recon. We need to find out who this woman is and what she's up to._ With that she flew off against the tide of Arachnids.

She found the mine with ease. It was a hive of activity, still being the size of a pea she dove in deeper unhindered. She hugged herself as she flew past hundreds of the spiderlike creatures who were even more terrifying to her now she was smaller. Not only were they below her but on the walls and ceilings surrounding her. The mines were getting more confusing as they branched off several times from the main tunnel. Over the pounding of spider's legs on the rock, she heard the faint echoes of a woman's voice giving orders. Following the voice brought her into a huge chamber with Arachnids on every available surface digging at the rock. In the centre of the chaos stood their new enemy. She was tall and dangerously beautiful. Her long ebony hair fell to her waist, contrasting with her white skin. Her scarlet eyes seemed huge and held no pupils or irises. Just visible on her cheekbones was another pair of lashes signifying third and fourth smaller eyes. Peaking out from her full, red lips were two white fangs, the tips glistening with the tiny hint of venom. Her curvaceous form was clad in a crimson corseted top with long black sleeves together with a trailing black skirt cut unevenly at the bottom, red spider webs crisscrossing their way across the silken cloth. She was armed with an ornate black crossbow along with 

a sheath of vicious looking arrows on her back. _This does not look good,_ thought Violet as she activated her communicator.

'Violet to the Legion, anyone there?' she whispered. Even though she was pretty sure that no one could hear her she still wasn't going to risk anything. 'Hello?'

'Violet, where are you?' came Saturn Girl's voice.

'I did some recon; I'm at the centre of the mine. I've seen the Archer, she's – '

'Right here.' Violet gasped as she was cut off and looked up into four giant red eyes just as she was swatted across the cavern. Being as small as she was, the Archers flick felt like the sky falling on her head. As she flew her body returned to normal size, before landing heavily on the rocky floor unconscious.

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'Violet? Violet!' called Saturn Girl helplessly as she heard the unfamiliar voice in the communicator. Almost immediately afterwards she lost her friend's thought activity. She faintly heard the voice again, 'you won't be needing this.' Before the link was cut off. 'Violet!' she turned to the others, 'We need to get to the mines now! Violet's been compromised, she needs help.'

'Unless you haven't noticed, we're a little busy.' Called Lightning Lad, as he took out another two Arachnids.

'Doesn't matter, Shrinking Violet needs our help.' Replied Superman. 'Saturn Girl and Cham come with me, the rest of you defend the cruiser.' Avoiding the shower of plasma blasts, they followed Violet's route down into the mines sending the Arachnids into frenzy. Cham was first into the main chamber only to be struck by a long evil looking arrow. He dropped towards the floor before Superman caught him.

'I can't move.' Grunted Cham as another arrow bounced off Superman. He looked up to see the Archer let fly a third at Saturn Girl who saw it coming and avoided it. They were overwhelmed by Arachnids but through the chaos they could hear her.

'I suppose you've come looking for this.' She smirked as she gestured to a limp Violet in the hands of her guards. 'Too bad,' she carried on, 'Finders keepers. I have everything I came for and it's nice to know that the galaxy's best defence are no match for me' she pulled out a small device. Superman broke away from the scrum and reached for Violet as she disappeared along with every single Arachnid soldier. The mine was quiet as the other Legionnaires arrived.

'What happened?' asked Cosmic Boy, 'they all just disappeared.'

'She took Violet.' Whispered Cham. There was silence before Cosmic Boy spoke again.

'Violet is not our priority at the moment, we need to find out more about the enemy and what she plans to do with those crystals. We find her, we find Shrinking Violet.'

'Not a priority huh?' asked Cham coldly, 'Tell me Cosmic Boy, who knows most about the Jahala crystal on this team?

'Violet, but –'

'Who is the analyst and 'smart girl' who provides us with vital information?' he carried on.

'Violet, I –'

'And who is our current medical expert?'

'VIOLET!' Cosmic Boy yelled, 'You've made your point! Shrinking Violet is now the priority, happy?'

'Very.' Muttered Cham smugly. Superman decided to intervene before Cosmic Boy ripped Cham's head off.'

'Ok everyone search for clues on our new enemy. We need to know how much crystal they mined, DNA samples, and any idea of where they went.'

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Three days later and there and been no success in finding Violet or the Archer. It was like she had disappeared. No one wanted to suggest the obvious course of action. Ask Brainy. If anyone could find her, he could. In the end it was Phantom Girl who sparked it off.

'Superman,' she began timidly which instantly put him on his guard as Phantom Girl was never timid.

'Yeah Phantom Girl?' the bridge was silent in anticipation, wondering if this was it.

'Don't you think we should, you know, call Brainy?'

Superman opened his mouth, 'Absolutely not,' answered Cosmic Boy, 'we can't trust him and we don't need him anyway.'

'Of course we need him,' retorted Lightning Lad glaring at Cosmic Boy, 'It's been three days, Violet could be dead for all we know.' There was a sharp intake of breath as Lightning Lad voiced another communal thought.

'And we can trust him,' piped up Saturn Girl, 'Brainy fought his demons and won, besides,' she paused, 'it's Violet.' Everyone knew what she meant. People found it hard to get close to Brainy with his high intellect and cold, logical ways. But after their initial clash he and Violet had formed a strong friendship that no one really understood but everyone was happy for them.

'Cosmic Boy is right. Even if it is Violet, Brainiac5 still can't be trusted.' This was from Nemesis Kid.

'Well I think we need Brainy.' Growled Timberwolf. They went on squabbling not noticing that Superman had already slipped off on his search, having made up his own mind about Brainy.

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And so we come to the end of another chapter. Many thanks to LadyGuardianofKeondes, 1000GreenSun and FunkyFish1991 for reviewing my first chapter! Hope you enjoyed this one!

Toodles from LoubaTotoaygo


	3. Chapter 3

I sat at my desk, resting my chin on my hand staring out the window. Even though it had been weeks since I had left the Legion it seemed like it was only yesterday that I had walked away from the sound of Vi's muffled sobs. _Vi, God how I miss her_. My world seemed less bright without her presence. After leaving I got a job as a mechanic under the name Querl Dox. Now, instead of the large comfortable Legion HQ with endless resources, I lived in a small flat in New Metropolis while still learning the basics of being human. The first time I cut myself, rather than doing the sensible thing by treating it, I just stopped what I was doing and watched the wound bleed.

I heard the doorbell ring, who could that be? I didn't have any friends yet, at work I kept mostly to myself. Cautiously I made my way over to the door and opened it before quickly slamming it as hard as I could but Superman was too fast.

'Brainy I just want to talk.'

'Go away! You can't say anything just go away!' _How did he find me?_ I wondered as I ran from the door into the bathroom and locked myself in. _He's Superman you idiot, how could he not?_ I answered myself.

'Brainy come out of there.' I heard him through the door.

'No,' I answered petulantly.

'Brainy we need to talk.'

'No we don't.' I could see him in my minds eye, mentally debating whether to rip the door off its hinges. Sure enough seconds later, there was a hole where my door had been now occupied by Superman.

'Sorry, but this is important.' I looked at him curiously. He did seem more uptight than usual and the Superman I knew would normally have coaxed me out of the bathroom with kind, understanding words. Something was definitely up. 'Brainy come out of there and have a civilised conversation with me.' I glared at him coldly but complied, making my way back to my desk to tinker while he talked.

'What do you want and make it quick.' I snapped, I should have been pleased to see him and some part of me was but I was more angry, even though I couldn't figure out why.

'We need you to come back to the Legion.' He said bluntly.

'No.' End of discussion, 'Shut the door on your way out.'

'I'm not going anywhere until you understand that this is non-negotiable.' This put me on edge. There was something in his voice that told me something was very wrong, not to mention the fact that Superman never forced people to do something they didn't want to do.

'You're right, it isn't.' I replied, 'I'm not going back, end of story.'

'When I leave this flat, you are coming with me whether you like it or not. We need you, something's happened and you're the only one who can help.'

'That's a lie and you know it, you've got Vi and she's just as good as me. Besides, I refuse to go where I'm not wanted. I know the minority would accept me back but you know how the others feel. I would have my crimes hanging over me constantly as if it isn't bad enough.' I paused and looked at him.

'We don't have Violet.' He said quietly, avoiding my gaze.

'What?'

'I said we don't have Violet.'

'Why? Where is she? Did she quit?'

'No, we don't know' His eyes remained fixed to the floor. My chest started to clench.

'Superman, where is she.'

'I DON'T KNOW!' he yelled making me jump, 'she was taken hostage during a situation a few days ago. All trails have gone cold, WE CAN'T FIND HER!' he took a deep breath and sat down, head in hands. I stared at him trying to comprehend. Vi was missing in action. Vi could be dead. Superman was speaking again, 'You don't know what it was like when you left Brainy. Vi wasn't Vi anymore. She refused to be called Vi for one thing. She lost her bubbly-ness, she worked all the time. She snapped at everyone.' I wanted him to shut up; I didn't want to hear because I knew it was my fault. 'Brainy?'

'How did it happen?' I asked. He told me about Archer and the Arachnids and Shrinking Violet's unplanned recon into the centre of the mine. As he talked I drifted off, a memory was pulling at my conscious, demanding I pay attention.

_Flashback_

_We were working in the lab as usual. Vi was chatting animatedly as she passed me various tools and got on with her own project. I liked listening to her talk even if I didn't really know why._

'_Anyway, Brainy it's really not fair that I always talk. It's a one sided conversation.' She pouted._

'_But Vi, I like hearing you talk.' I blushed slightly as I said it._

'_Oh well...thank you.' she blushed too but carried on, 'Still a bit of input would be nice.' I carried on working but she wasn't having any of it. 'Brainy!' I sighed and turned to her._

'_Yes Vi?' she was about to answer when she squeaked and jumped into my arms and burying her face in my neck making me blush furiously. 'V-Vi? What's wrong?' _

'_Get rid of it,' she said in a muffled voice._

'_Get rid of what?' I asked softly though totally perplexed. She shifted a bit so I could just see her face and pointed._

'_That.' On the floor, near the work bench was a spider. It moved slightly, dashing forward a few centimetres as if it knew it was being watched. Violet squeaked again and clung to me tighter, re-burying her face so she didn't have to look at it. Personally, I was tempted to leave her there but I knew that would just seem odd. Reluctantly I placed my hands on her shoulders and gently pried her of me._

'_Ok Vi, you stay here I'll get rid of it.' She looked at me and nodded. With that I found a glass caught the spider, whispered a quiet thanks for giving me the opportunity to be that close to Vi before releasing it outside. When I returned Vi was busying herself, not really doing anything but trying desperately to give the impression she was. I understood so I let her collect herself. Eventually she asked, 'Is it gone?'_

'_Yes.'_

'_Thank you.'_

'_No problem, want to talk about it?' she paused be fore turning to me._

'_Promise you won't laugh?' _

'_Promise.' I answered as I lead her over to corner of the lab and sat on the floor. I hated doing this but I knew she was most comfortable here so I could make sacrifices. She sat next to me and brought her knees up to her chest._

'_When Imskians are born our powers are not developed, we can't shrink and grow at will until we are about four years old when we start experimenting. I was like any other Imskian child. One day when I was five I shrunk further than I ever had before. I was about the size of an ant.' She paused and smiled to herself, 'I was so proud of myself, I couldn't wait to tell my mother. I was on the floor at the time, in the kitchen. I started wondering around when I came face to face with a spider. It was your average house spider, if a bit large but to me it was a monster.' She paused again and I could see her eyes were squeezed shut and her hands were so tightly clenched her knuckles had gone white. 'I was so afraid, I forgot how to grow, I couldn't run, and I definitely couldn't fly. I just stood there. My mother saved me. She had seen me shrink and had been watching. She picked me up in her arms, grew and trod on the spider. She had to shrink again to calm me down enough to grow again.' She grew quiet as her story ended. _

'_It's ok Vi,' was all I could think to say, 'it's ok to be afraid of spiders.'_

'_Thanks Brainy.' She smiled weakly._

'_Shall we get back to work?' I got up and held out my hand to her._

'_Ok.' She took it and back to work we went._

_End Flashback_

Vi was afraid of spiders. I was the only one who knew and she had been forced to stand up to demons alone. I couldn't imagine Vi gone, she couldn't be. I needed her. I looked at Superman who was staring at me.

'I'll come.' I said shortly and began packing my things.

'Thank you Brainy.'

'I'm not doing it for you or anyone in the Legion, I'm doing it for Vi, this is worse than you know.'

'What do you mean?'

'Vi has a phobia of spiders.'

'Oh god.'

'But I will find her.' I said with resolution, 'and no one is to restrict my access, understood?' I glared at him as if to dare him to disagree.

'Of course Brainy.' He paused, 'I know how much Vi means to you.'

'You have no idea.' I muttered and we left to face the rest of the Legion and more importantly, to find Vi.

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Thanks once again to LadyGardianofKeondes, FunkyFish1991 and 1000GreenSun. Love you guys! Hope you enjoy the newest installment. Next chapter, we find out what's happened to Vi! oO


	4. Chapter 4

OMG! Die of shock people I'm back! I got all these lovely reviews and stuff and I felt bad about not giving you my story (that and i hate it when people dont finish stories). This chapters a bit of a short one but it felt right to finish it where I did. It's a bit graphic but I'm quite pleased with it which is rare for me happy reading!

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I had been working for days tirelessly. I hardly slept or ate, how could I knowing Vi was out there somewhere? _I'm so sorry Vi._ The words repeated themselves over and over again in my head. She had asked me to stay, she needed me and I had abandoned her. _What if I never see her again? What if..._ NO! I pushed the thought to the back of my head. I would find her and she would be alive. Superman had come in a couple of times to check my progress and my health. He told me not to push myself too hard as I was still 'new at the whole human thing'. I did keep forgetting this. That I was no longer a robot who only needed to recharge his batteries to work at full capacity. I was an organism now that required certain needs and processes to function. But I didn't care. Vi needed me so my humanity could wait.

I thought back to the start of my search, well, to my re-entrance into Legion HQ. Superman escorted me to my lab but felt in necessary to drag me through the control room full of my ex-colleagues.

_Flashback_

'_Well look who it is.' I heard Nemesis Kid remark in a snide voice._

'_Brainy!' yelled an excited Cham, 'You're back!' _

'_Dude, we missed you.' Bouncing Boy added. I smiled weakly as Saturn Girl glided over with Lightning Lad, a look of pity on her face. I realised that she alone out of the entire Legion knew exactly how I felt._

'_Brainy,' she said softly, 'It's ok, we'll find her.' Meanwhile, it seemed that Cosmic Boy was yelling at Superman for disobeying orders._

'_What the sprock do you think you're doing? We don't need him! He's a liability and a threat!' Just as he finished Phantom Girl phased through the floor and slapped him._

'_You egotistical bastard! How dare you! Superman did the right thing! We need Brainy. End of story. Violet is missing and you don't want the help of the most intelligent being in the galaxy because you're a control freak and the most powerful Legionnaire went behind your back!' she paused to take a breath, 'Brainy,' she said, turning to me, 'Ignore him, we need you and your friends want you back.' _

_I looked at her and gave her a week smile. 'Correction. Vi needs me. If anyone wants me I'll be in my lab.' With that I turned and walked out of the room to begin my search._

_End Flashback_

That was three days ago and still no sign of her. I was beginning to lose hope, but I couldn't give up. I hadn't realised I'd been staring at the wall until Superman's voice interrupted my thoughts as it rang out over the intercom.

'Everyone to the bridge, we're receiving a transmission from the Archer.' I sprinted from my lab, bypassing Bouncing Boy and Sun Boy in my haste.

'Good evening Legion.' Was the first thing I heard as the doors opened, 'I believe I have something of yours.' The Archer smirked as the view zoomed out to include Vi being held between two Arachnid 

soldiers. I gasped when I saw her. Her face was covered in bruises and there was a dark trickle of dried blood from her hairline. Her uniform, once so clean and cute (I thought), was dirty and ripped. Some patches had been torn away completely to reveal her pale ivory skin blemished by angry purple bruises and vicious cuts. I was shaking with anger, wishing with all my heart that it was me and not her so she would have been spared. The rest of the Legion were just as stunned as I was. Nothing like this had ever happened before.

'What have you done to her?' asked Superman in disbelief.

'Nothing really. She's been an excellent plaything for my children and most of the cuts are self inflicted.' She added maliciously. 'I am making an example of Shrinking Violet. I don't like spies and the next one I find won't be so lucky. She has served my purposes so now I can be rid of her. But first...' she took Violet from her guards, cradling her like a child as she was barely conscious. 'Violet?' She stroked her face and Vi stirred. 'Violet wake up, your friends want to see you.' Vi's eyes fluttered as she struggled into consciousness. We watched her concentrate on the screen, studying our faces until her eyes rested on me. I saw her mouth my name just as the Archer bit down on her neck before throwing her to the floor.

'Stop!' yelled Lightning Lad but it was too late.

The Archer wiped traces of Violet's blood from her lips. 'My own personal venom is a powerful hallucinogen.' She explained casually as she bent down to Vi's crumpled form and stroked her cheek almost tenderly. 'Our little Violet will soon be in her own private world of nightmares.' She straightened up and clapped her hands together theatrically. 'Imagine my delight when I found what frightened her most in this world, was spiders!'

'Oh no.' I heard Saturn Girl gasp, as Vi started twitching on the screen as her deep violet irises shrank and vanished leaving her eyes black and white. She began weakly brushing herself with her hands.

'Off, get them off, please.' She muttered at first. It soon turned to screaming as she pulled at her hair and tore at what remained of her uniform causing more welds on her skin, all the while begging us for help.

'STOP IT!' the words escaped before I could stop myself. It was too much to bear. She was in so much pain and so afraid.

'Too late,' the Archer replied nonchalantly and snapped her fingers. One of her henchmen moved toward Vi as she writhed on the floor fighting off her invisible enemies. She screamed even louder as the giant Arachnid approached her.

'Brainy!' it came from nowhere and hit me like a tonne of bricks. She was calling to me, looking for me. 'Brainy! Help me! Make it go away please! Make them all go away!' she had no idea how her words were affecting me. I felt dizzy as my name hit me again and again like a whip, uttered in that terrible shriek of abject terror. I could see some of the other Legionnaires staring at me out of the corner of my eye just before my vision went bleary from tears. I watched as the monster grabbed her by the waist, 

dragging her from the corner she had backed herself into. Opening a door, he threw her in and there was an audible crack as she hit an unseen object.

'Like I said,' I turned my attention to the creature I now loathed to the very core, _I will make you pay for this_, 'She's of no use to me now, but I'm feeling generous. If you can find her, you can have her.' The Archer smirked as Vi's tearstained face appeared at the glass square in the door. 'I will however be keeping these.' She said over the muffled thumps of Vi's pathetic attempts to escape her prison. She held up what looked like scrap wires but I knew with a terrible certainty it was Vi's flight ring and communicator. 'It's been lovely having you.' Smiled the Archer sweetly as she released the pod. 'Until next time Legion.' And she ended the transmission.

There was silence on the bridge. Well, almost silence. Phantom Girl had begun crying audibly and Timberwolf was awkwardly trying to comfort her. I still had tears leaking from my eyes but I didn't care, even though I was aware of many pairs of eyes on me. I turned to Superman, struggling to remain composed.

'If anyone needs me, I'll be in my lab.' And just as before, I turned on my heel and walked out. Unlike before, I had a lead. The last thing I had heard as the Archer's transmission ended was not her smug goodbye, but a female voice announce, 'Emergency Pod Released To Ter-' in the background. Strange I should have focused on it but I rejoiced on the circumstance that I had. I entered my lab and locked the door. 'Computo,' I commanded, 'Run a check for any planets beginning with the letters T-E-R.'

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I'll try and update again asap but I've got a really busy couple of weeks coming up what with moving to uni and the like! Please review and thanks to all the people who have previously reviewed and encouraged me to get off my lazy arse and finish this


	5. Chapter 5

'We're almost there.' Superman's voice penetrated my thoughts. I looked up and out at the huge purple planet before us. After the Archer's transmission I had found three possible planets that the Archer could have exiled Vi to. We were looking upon Teranos which secretly I felt held the most like chance of finding her. That's not what I told Cosmic Boy.

_Flashback_

'_Brainy you're not going and that's final!' We had been having this argument for the last half an hour and I had no intention of backing down._

'_I'm the one who found the sites so I should be able to join the search.'_

'_I said no, you're not part of the Legion anymore and this is a Legion mission.' I could feel the smugness radiating off him as he put me down in front of the whole Legion. Luckily, having a 12__th__ level intelligence means he could never, ever beat me in an argument._

'_Ok, I guess you win.' I put on my best crestfallen voice as I heard quiet gasps coming from some other members in the room. 'I just have one question.' I could see Superman giving me a questioning look out of the corner of my eye._

'_Fine what is it.' I could see that Cosmic Boy had filed me away under 'Problem Solved', he was so very wrong._

'_Where exactly is this Legion mission heading off to as I don't recall ever telling you where Vi is.' A look of shock and anger spread across his face._

'_Brainy, you give me that location now! That's an order!'_

'_Firstly, it's location__**s **__as there are several and secondly, no. I'm not part of the Legion anymore so you can't order me around.' He looked at me in disbelief. 'Oh and don't even think about asking Computo, I deleted all the search files. There is not a trace of anything have been doing in the last couple of hours.'_

'_How dare you!' he had turned red with rage, 'I knew it was a bad idea to let you back in HQ, you lie, you're manipulative and you have no desire to do anything for anyone but yourself. Shrinking Violet is out there possibly dying and you're in here playing childish ga-' I punched him before he could finish his sentence. Superman was by my side in a flash holding my arm. I didn't struggle, it doesn't take a 12__th__ level intelligence to realise that when the Man of Steel is holding you, you won't get away. It didn't stop me from shaking with anger._

'_Vi means more to me than you will ever know.' I said quietly, 'I will give you the names on the condition that I am on one of the search parties. This is non-negotiable.' Sun Boy had come to aid Comic Boy, they both gave me identical glares._

'_I suggest you listen to him Cosmic Boy.' Superman's voice made Cosmic Boy jump, 'Because if you don't, then I will.' He let go of my arm, 'Ok Brainy, tell us where to find her.'_

_End Flashback_

So here I was, sitting in a shuttle with Superman, Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad, my heart in my mouth, chest clenched so hard I could barely breathe and all at the prospect of finding her.

'Brainy, it's going to be alright.' I looked at Saturn Girl. I forgot she could read minds and from the look on her face, mine weren't that great. I kept getting flashes of how we'd find her. In my optimistic moments, I saw her alive and as we'd seen her during the transmission. But in my pessimistic moments, I saw her...Saturn Girl burst into tears. 'Brainy stop it! She's going to be fine!'

'What the hell have you done?' asked Lightning Lad angrily as he comforted Saturn Girl.

'I'm sorry,' I whispered, a tear slid down my cheek, 'I'm sorry, I can't help it.' She walked over to me and held me in her arms.

'I know. I'm sorry too.' Lightning Lad looked confused. Superman just stared ahead his eyes filled with pity. We stayed in silence as we landed. When we left the shuttle I looked at Saturn Girl, she gave a quick nod and did a mental scan of the surrounding area. 'Nothing.' She said sadly.

'That's ok, it doesn't mean she isn't here.' Cut in Superman quickly, 'Saturn Girl, Lightning Lad you take the west side of this area. Brainy you're with me. We'll take the east. If we don't find anything we'll meet back here and move to a different location.' The others nodded and flew off. Superman looked at me. 'Ready?' I nodded and we took to the skies.

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Everything hurt. She tried to move and the pain seared through every fibre of her being like knives in her blood. She would have screamed if she could but nothing worked. She concentrated on not blacking out. The pain dulled slightly and she prioritised. _Open your eyes_. Vi concentrated and opened her eyes a fraction. The light blinded her for a moment before she was able to vaguely make out the destroyed remains of a pod around her. It was so big, why was that? _The crash_. It began to come back to her.

_Flashback_

_Spiders. Spiders everywhere. All over her, in her hair, in her mouth. She couldn't get out. She was so afraid. Where was Brainy? Why wasn't he helping her? _

'_Impact in 10 seconds. 10 – 9 – 8 – 7 -,' the voice broke through her conscious. Impact? She wiped the spiders from the window and glimpsed the fast approaching trees. She did the only this she could._

'_3 – 2 – 1.'_

_End Flashback_

So here she was, weak injured and the size of a pea. This was going to hurt. Most people didn't realise that Imskans defied the laws of physics. In reality, something of a certain mass just couldn't shrink to something of smaller mass. Yet they did it. At full health it was just a dull ache that lasted during the transformation. In this state it would feel like she was bursting out of her skin. Vi braced herself.

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Saturn Girl gasped. Something had spiked in her senses. It was sharp and it couldn't be good.

'Lightning Lad wait!' she opened up communications, 'Brainy? Superman? I felt something in your area. Whatever it was, it's gone now. It could be Vi or something else so be careful.'

'Do you have any idea where it was?' came Brainy's calm voice over the communicator. At least he sounded calm, but she knew he was anything but.

'It was so quick,' she replied sadly, 'but if I had to guess I'd say about 3 miles west of your position.'

'Ok, good work Saturn Girl, Brainy lets –.' I was already gone. _Vi_. I almost couldn't breathe. What if she wasn't there? Or what if she was? Closing in:

2.5 miles,

2 miles,

I could hear the muffled sounds of Superman talking to me but I wasn't concentrating.

1 mile,

0.5 miles,

100 metres.

I landed. Nothing. Nothing at all. But she HAD to be here.

'Brainy! Over there!' Superman's voice pierced through the sound of blood pumping in my ears. I looked to where he was pointing. How could I have missed it? A hole in the line of undergrowth. Heart in mouth I ran. I glimpsed metal and ran faster.

'VI!' the word escaped my lips, 'Vi! I'm coming!' the pod was a wreck. The main body was in two pieces. One was in nearby tree. The other a crumpled mass upside down in a trench. Bits and pieces of unidentifiable metal were strewn about. No one could have survived that. _NO! Don't think like that! She's going to be fine!_

Superman flew up to check the nearest half of the pod as I gazed at the wreckage. I jumped down into the trench and began struggling with the twisted piece of metal I thought was the door.

'Vi?' I called uncertainly.

'Brainy?' It was so quiet I barely heard it. But it was a voice I knew as well as my own. I wrenched at the door. It wouldn't budge. I had to get to her!

'SUPERMAN!' I yelled, 'Help! She's in here!' In a flash he was beside me and light streamed into the tiny space of the cabin. There she was. My heart stopped. Nothing could have prepared me for this. Her condition onboard the Archer's ship would have been an improvement. She looked so broken, covered in dried blood, her uniform in tatters with most of her skin exposed. She was curled in a ball in a corner, shivering from the cold. She was in so much pain. Her once sparkling violet eyes were dull and unseeing.

'Brainy? Help me.' I snapped out of it.

'Vi?' I picked her up gently as tears of pain welled up in her eyes. 'It's ok now Vi, I'm here.' Superman X-rayed her as I tried to ignore the fact that some of her bones were bending in the wrong places. He winced and gave me a serious look.

'We have to get her back to HQ, _now_.' I nodded and we took off. Superman called the others back to the shuttle. Superman tried to take Vi from me at one point, I refused to let go. I hadn't been there to protect her before, I'd be damned if I was going to let that happen again.

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OMG! A new chapter! I am ashamed of myself that it took this long, I had MAJOR writers block. I want to thank all the lovely, lovely people who reviewed my last chapter. This one I fear is not as good, some stuff is a bit corny, perhaps the characters OOC, I don't know. Constructive criticism would be appreciated. Oh and I dont know what kind of measurments they use in the 30th Century so I used mile ^^. Enjoy!


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